A Lonely World
by BeastBrd
Summary: A man travels with Pokémon and discovers the obvious. One shot. Original characters. Reviews make me happy.


The wind blew through the cold, stale air. There was not a sign of life in this old, forsaken ghost of a town. Houses were now piles of wood, streets were misshapen chunks haphazardly placed together, and what was standing, according to buildings, mostly consisted of one or two walls; on rare occasions, a building was almost completely intact, which meant that food lingered inside, protected by the walls encasing it in complete preservation. It was difficult to continue living life constantly thinking of when your next meal would be, if you would have one that day.

Isaac continued on, hoping against all odds that there would be food in this one lone home. He tried the knob, and it proved to be locked. _No matter,_ he thought. He stepped back a bit, and delivered a flying kick. It knocked the door down, and he was allowed access. What he found inside didn't shock him.

There was a trace of people, but the trail ran cold. The blankets and cups of water, now evaporated, leaving a ring, were weeks old, if not months. Isaac sighed, then searched the house. He looked for food, any kind, that he could eat. He checked the refrigerator, as it usually keeps the food cold enough to preserve well. There was two cans of spam.

"A-ha!" Isaac shouted. He turned to his Pokémon companions, and said, "Look what I got here! You guys will love this!"

All of his Pokémon, a Charmander, a Squirtle, a Bulbasaur, a Pikachu and a Kirlia, all eyed it suspiciously, without the faintest clue as to what it was.

_"What is it?" _his Kirlia asked, telepathically.

"Oh, it's spam. Spam!" This didn't faze them at all.

"Hehhh, alright. I'll cook it later. But for now, let's go."

They all nodded in agreement, and they left the home. Isaac looked around again. He noticed a white, plastic fence that he hadn't seen before.

"Where would be a good place to set up camp?"

The Pokémon consulted for a bit, then had the Kirlia be the representative, stating: _"We think we should walk around a bit before we decide."_

"Fair enough."

They walked around the broken buildings and streets, and came upon a few reasonable spots. If the night didn't provide dangers, that is. One was in the park, it was a nice, open spot, easy to see far and prepare for any attacks, but the flaw is that there were many angles to defend, so that was denied. Another was in a multi-story building, or a church, but it was too difficult to effectively prepare a defense. And it wasn't safe to climb at all. The last spot was at the baseball field, which actually had a good condition announcer's box at the top. It was sturdy, and there were no stairs, so it would be easy to defend. Amazingly, Bulbasaur got up, despite his great problem with climbing vertical things.

"So!" he announced, removing his backpack. "Now we get to eat this spam!" He removed a pan and two logs, the most that would fit in his pack. "But...I don't think we should cook it up here." It was a wooden structure after all.

Kirlia sighed, _"Geez, you need to think these things through!"_

"You guys followed me up here! You had just as much time to stop me!"

So they all climbed down to a safer cooking area. He made a small fire pit, lit a fire with one of his last few matches and some nearby newspapers, and opened and cut up the spam. He carefully washed the knife with a cup of Squirtle's spit, which was purified water that was in puddles all around.

"Man, am I glad you purify water, Squirtle. We might all have died. Maybe, except for Charmander."

Charmander spoke a bit, then Kirlia thought, _"Haha~, Isaac." _She was translating for Charmander. _"Just 'cuz I'm a fire type, you always have to pick on me."_

"Oh, it's not just you. I pick on Kirlia, too!"

_"Hey!" _she yelled at Isaac, who laughed as his reply.

"Well, whatever. The spam is almost done. Are you guys ready to taste a slice of heaven?" They still didn't look intrigued at the thought of it. "Oh, come on, guys. Trust me."

He picked up a slice, then told the others to grab one. There were six slices, including his. They all sniffed it, and deemed it worthy of a taste. Instead of biting, they all licked, because they had their share of disgusting surprises in the past. All of them, simultaneously, dropped their jaws.

_"This... is... delicious..."_

"That's right!" Isaac said, halfway done with his slice. "And that's only the tip of the iceberg! Dig in!"

With no further permission, they all bit and chew slowly, savoring every single second of their delicious meal. Bulbasaur's vines sprawled out and turned back, holding his little slab of meat between them. That fascinated Isaac; he marvelled that such a thing could happen: a small geometrical shape, being supported by two rods, essentially. The vines didn't have any fingers or grips that he knew of, and they seemed smooth.

"Bulbasaur?" It snapped out of nirvana. "Can I...feel your vine?"

Even though this was an odd request, it stretched over one of its vines so Isaac could touch it. Despite how smooth and slick it seemed, it was very rough and textured. Like the prickly side of grass.

"That... is so... odd..."

"Bulba?"

_"What is?"_

"I just thought... it would feel... like... smooth."

All the Pokémon looked at him weird, then started laughing. Isaac ate the rest of his spam in one bit, turned around, and folded his arms.

_"Oh, calm down! It's just that we find humans so... ummm... amusing, sometimes. It's like you guys and cats."_

Isaac thought about this a bit, then turned back around. "I guess you're right. Everybody does some stupid things, right?"

_"Right."_

Everybody smiled in agreement, then Isaac checked the sun's position. It was almost touching the horizon.

"Alright, everybody finish your spam, because we need to get to our camp. It's almost sundown. Hurry up!"

At the thought of sundown, they all quickly ate their pieces of spam, and headed up the wall. When they got to the top, Isaac asked for a volunteer to keep watch.

_"I'll do it!" _Kirlia said, promptly.

"But you always do it. I want someone else to do it tonight."

_"But I don't need sleep, you know that! I get my sleep from you, when you sleep!"_

Isaac weighed the matter in his mind, like he does every night. "Fine, you win. Go on and keep watch."

The human and his Pokémon companions retreated to bed, all except Kirlia.

* * *

Kirlia stayed up, scanning the horizon constantly, feeling her mind and her muscles rest with the rest she was accepting from her human. Her human. She let her mind wander, starting at her current situation, how life was, what the future holds, what the future used to hold, how the world came to this, wether there was other humans, how her human and another female human would populate the world again, and then ended on how all of the Pokémon he was with were female. He didn't know, of course, he thought that only she was female. He thought that Carmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu were all guys, but he was wrong. If only he knew.

Kirlia was pulled from her thoughts because she saw movement. She eyed the area closely. She looked in that general area, looking for any sign of movement. She must have looked for ten minutes, but she found nothing. She looked else-

"Kirlia! Kirlia! Lia, Kirlia!"

They were climbing the building, and that wasn't a pretty sight. Her loud, repetitive yelling instantly awoke everybody else. Isaac jumped into action.

* * *

"Okay! Squirtle, knock back the climbing ones! We need to get them away from us!"

Squirtle did exactly as he was commanded. When there was none in the way, they jumped down, rolling to absorb impact without harm. They then ran to the pitcher's mound, a place not fit for defense, but would have to do.

"Charmander, light up the night! Pikachu, see how many you can take out! Kirlia, knock back whichever ones don't fall! Bulbasaur, unleash your razor leaf! Squirtle, keep the ones Kirlia misses back, too!"

The fire illuminated many of the things around. The zombies. Pikachu unleashed electricity to the herd, which jumped from zombie to zombie. Kirlia's eyes flashed purple repeatedly, and jets of water shot out randomly. Only Bulbasaur's attacks really did damage, the others were to just give him time. This was not the best place to do this, but they had to do their best.

"That's good, keep going!"

When the horde was closing in, he knew they needed to move somewhere else.

"Alright, give big pushes, we need to move! That way!" he yelled, as he pointed into the city.

_"But there could be more in there!"_

"That's a risk we need to make!"

All the Pokémon felt the gravity of the situation, and Isaac started counting, "Threeeeeee... twoooooo... ooooone...

"NOW!" They blasted a clear corridor through the mess of zombies, and they all ran as fast as they could through it. "Only focus on the ones in front of us! Bulbasaur, jump in my arms! You need to focus on what's in front!"

Bulbasaur jumped in his arms, and shot leaves forward. "Pikachu! Shock the ones he misses!"

He did as was expected. The bodies piled up, and they leapt over them. But it wasn't enough!

"We need to find a building! A corridor of cement! One that they can't climb over!"

_"How about over there?" _Kirlia asked, letting him know exactly where via telepathy.

"Perfect!" They made a mad dash for it. They almost made it, when a wave of the undead poured over it. "Change of plans!"

They took a different turn, headed instead for the school building. Isaac ran first into the door, and tackled it open with his shoulder. It ached. They appeared in the lobby, a pretty fancy one, at that.

"Alright, this is a good place. We can stand in the hall and-"

He was cut off by the undead busting in the windows in the lobby. They ran down the hall, Isaac running backwards, all the other Pokémon pushing the others away. In the corridors, they didn't stand a chance. "Pikachu! Help me and Bulbasaur!"

"Pikah!" Pikachu turned, and started to stun the undead on the other side.

_"We need help on this side!"_

"Turn in threeeeee... twoooooo... oooone... NOW!"

At the same time, everybody turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. Their foes changed, and the zombies on this side started to pile up; they couldn't stand against Bulbasaur's flurry of leaves. Isaac put him down, and started to survey the area. There were two classrooms: one had windows and the other didn't.

"In here!" he shouted to the Pokémon.

What awaited in the room would shock him. It was another Pokémon, a Chikorita.

"Hey, little guy," he said, comfortingly. "What are you doing here?"

_"Isaac!"_

"Oh, right! Defend the doorway! Kirlia, can you check the chutes?"

Her eyes glowed purple, and stayed that way for a while. They returned to normal, and she reported, _"All clear!"_

"Alright, just keep going the way you're going! Kirlia, check the chutes often! We can't be snuck up on, now!"

_"Roger!"_

While they did that, Isaac checked the room for any escape, except for the air vents. There needed to be something, anything! When he thought there was nothing, he found a trap door that led to some tunnels underground.

"In here!"

They all started to slowly retreat. "Hey, Chikorita," Isaac chanted soothingly. "Wanna come with us? We'll take good care of you!" He smiled the most friendly smile he could muster, and held his arms out. The Chikorita immediately jumped in his arms.

"Alright! Charmander! Set fire to the place! The structure will weaken and collapse on them!" One of the few times that fire was good against the undead.

"Carmander!" he yelled, releasing flames and embers against the wooden walls. They caught fire instantaneously, due to the drought and age. After, he jumped into the tunnel, and Isaac shut the trap door, which was iron layered on top with linoleum, making an almost perfectly disguised cover.

They traveled down, listening to the scratching on the trapdoor and the toppling of the building, destroying a large number of undead. Isaac set the Chikorita down, and asked, "Will you come with us?" It nodded, and then they heard the ripping and bending of iron.

"Run!"

They ran forward, Charmander lighting the way. When they came to a fork in the tunnels, Isaac yelled, "This way!" while he ran to the right.

They followed him, and it opened up more, and they came to the opening, the inside of the corridor they saw before. What was there was zombies.

"Razor leaf!" He didn't expect two sets of leaves to fly out, however. Chikorita was helping Bulbasaur, and he did it faster than Bulbasaur, too. "Alright, good, you two. We can do this!" The bodies of zombies piled up very quick. "Run in threeee... twoooo... ooooone... NOW!"

They all sailed forward, jumping over the large pile of rotted flesh. They ran, and they ran. They didn't stop running until Isaac looked back, and said, "It's alright, they're not there."

_"Are you sure?" _Kirlia insisted. _"There could be more! How do you know? Is this far enough? Where are we?" _she asked for all the Pokémon that Isaac couldn't understand. Only Chikorita wasn't asking questions.

"Look. We've been standing here for about half a minute now. Don't you think they would have caught up to us by then?"

That seemed to assuage all of their concerns. After they waited for the rest of the minute, they let themselves be tired. They ran out of breath standing there. Defending yourself is not easy work, especially against such an unforgiving enemy.

"Well, I think that this night was pretty restful, hahaha."

_"Yeah, I think so, too."_

Isaac smiled, then he turned to their newest companion. "A Chikorita, huh? It's been a while since I've seen one of you. Where you from? Just speak, Kirlia will translate for me."

It mumbled, almost inaudible.

"Louder, please?"

"Chi... ko... ri... chi... ta..."

_"I came from Hoenn. I became separated from my master, and now I don't have anybody. She-"_

"Your master is a girl? Where did she go?"

_"Let me finish," _Kirlia said with a sharp tone. _"She thought I was dead, but I was just unconscious. I don't know where she went. I was stuck in there for two days, I think."_

"I'm sorry, little guy, bu-"

"Chikorita~!"

That surprised Isaac so much, he jumped and almost fell.

_"I'm a girl."_

"Oh, I'm sorry, little girl, but I promise to take good care of you." Isaac smiled a big, warm smile for her. It smiled back, and nuzzled up to his legs.

Isaac stood up, and then asked jokingly, "So, how many other girls are with us?" All the Pokémon confirmed that they were girls.

Isaac didn't know that he was with a bunch of girl Pokémon, so he just stood there. _"Do you need a minute?"_

Isaac stood still for another few seconds, shook himself off, then said, "No, I'm fine. I just... didn't know that. Let's go, there's got to be more food at that one place."

They made their way back, hacking a few undead that still roamed the streets in the shadows. They made it, and checked the cupboards, hopig for some dried foods. Their search wasn't fruitless, as he turned up seven bags of homemade jerky, one for each of them!

"Yes! Who wants jerky?"

All the Pokémon yelled, as if to say, "Meeee!"

Isaac smiled, then they left the house, and walked down the street, to the next town. While walking, he started to open the bags, and he handed the first one to Chikorita, who held them with her vines like Bulbasaur. He then handed them all out to the other Pokémon, and said, "Okay, now. Don't eat it all, that's part of your lunches and dinners!" They all mumbled in acknowledgement. Isaac felt like a parent. After they had their fill, he tied up the bags, and placed them on a small clip hanging on his bag.

After a few minutes of walking in one way, they were out of the small ghost town. The air outside of town limits was cleaner, and the view was better. Even the creeks around had sparkling, clean water. The town was a small scum-hole, and that's why the undead liked it so much.

"So," Isaac started, "do any of you have names? I don't know why I neglected to ask for so long, but now that we've had a small addition, I feel bad that I don't know any of your names."

After a bit of back and forth between them, Kirlia started thinking, _"Well, we're all fine with our species names, but my name is Jessica. Pikachu is Samantha, Charmander is Sarah, Bulbasaur is Millie and Squirtle is Shay."_

"Alright, but what about Chikorita?"

"Chiko..."

_"She said her name is Billie."_

"Alright. After a while of walking and searching, we'll stop for lunch."

They walked for a long time, and the sun reached its peak in the middle of the sky. "Lunchtime!"

They all sat down, and Isaac pulled all their jerky off of the small hook, opened them all, and handed them to the respective Pokémon; he also marked whose was whose.

"We can't stay for long. We have to find a good place to camp for the night, and we're already low on food. We just have this and that other can of spam."

"Chiko~!" yelled Billie... now, he just felt weird for using their names.

_"I love spam!" _Kirlia translated for him.

Isaac smiled, and said, "You know, you don't have to be so shy with us. We're traveling together, and if you're shy, we won't know how you're feeling. So... just talk more, I guess... Did you know that none of these other Pokémon had never had spam before just yesterday?"

"Chikaaa?"

"I know, right?! It was crazy!"

After that, they all started to talk, especially to Chikorita. Kirlia was translating everything for him, but she wasn't able to keep up, so he told her she didn't need to, it was probably girly stuff.

Then, Isaac felt it. The pull of another. People.

Isaac got up, and started to walk. He walked towards the invisible force, tugging at his very core. He needed this, he needed another person. Just somebody to spend time with, another person to die with.

He walked, and almost as soon as it appeared, it vanished. He grasped desperately for the pull, for the source. He started to run around, his clawing for life besides his own. He couldn't let it get away! He just couldn't!

But, alas, it got away.

He stood for who knows how long, then his composure slumped. He turned, and saw the rest of the crew was staring at him, and Chikorita was confused.

"It's gone. I can't feel it."

All the other Pokémon drooped in disappointment.

"It's alright, it wasn't that hard of a pull, anyways. Kirlia, would you explain to her, you know how it feels the best."

_"But I still don't understand it that well. It confuses me."_

"Alright, I'll tell you." Isaac sat down, choosing his words to explain in simplest terms how this... force works. "Well... when there's another human around, I can... sense it. I have... a form of psychic power inside of me, and that helps me find people and Pokémon. However, it doesn't help me sense the undead, they don't have... social properties that are relatable to me. Pokémon, or at least certain types of Pokémon, do. Mostly all except ghost, ground and metal types. What I felt might have just been... about twenty miles away." Chikorita seemed satisfied with the explanation.

"Alright. Give me your bags, we've got to move."

They started to leave for the next town to pillage.

* * *

It's been two days, and they haven't found any food. Thankfully, they haven't been attacked, either. Isaac's limbs felt weak, and he was sure that the others were just as weak, if not more so. He gave up his meager share to the other Pokémon, so they could stay alive, if only for another few days.

"Guys... I just want to let you know... I love you..."

The Pokémon all said their replies in kind, probably a "We love you, too." The sun was going down, and they needed to find a place to camp. But he couldn't see anywhere suitable in sight.

Then, he felt it again. Another human, and it was stronger than last time. This gave him and the others renewed strength.

"Come on! This way!"

He ran, searching and feeling the pull, which was getting stronger with every step.

They ran into a building that was standing, thankfully. It was a large, one-story building. He ran up and down the halls, very out of breath, and he came upon a room with a small Clefairy in it.

He smiled, although he was a bit disappointed it wasn't a human.

"Hey. Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Clefairy!"

_"This one's a boy."_

"Alright, little guy. Do you know where there's any food?"

"Clefairyyyyyyyy... Clefairy!" it shouted, then bounced out of the room. It was going to lead them to food!

Everybody followed it with glee! The clefairy led them to a humble kitchen, and the Pokémon lunged for the food right away.

"Wait!" Isaac shouted. "We can't just eat it all, we've got to ration it. Only a bit at a time, and I will want some of you to carry food on our travels, now."

All the Pokémon mumbled their agreement, and Isaac got to work sorting out meals. He made a good dried food meal for all the Pokémon, and he said, "Okay, only take your share, now. No getting greedy."

At that, all the Pokémon took their share. They all ate, paying no mind to how messy they were.

"Clefairy." He stopped and looked at Isaac. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Clefaaiiiiry!"

_"That's a yes."_

"Alright! We could use your skills in battle against the zombies!"

Clefairy smiled, jumped a bit, then got back to eating.

"Okay! We need to go, soon, so I'll start making bags for you to hold."

* * *

Kirlia was on watch again. She didn't mind, and she still felt rested through her human. This time, they camped on the roof of the building that they found the Clefairy in.

They were only an hour into the night, but she began to see random movements in the streets.

"Kirlia! Kirlia! Lia, Kirlia!"

This woke everybody up, and they were well prepared for the attack this time, despite how much sleep they got.

* * *

"Alright! Kirlia, keep an eye on the walls! I don't think they can climb up, but you can never be too sure! Everybody else, focus your attacks on the ones coming across the roof!"

Isaac started to look around, and even though they were in a city, where most buildings would have fallen, most of the buildings stood. That gave him an idea.

"Alright, when there's too much, we'll jump down and go into that building there!"

They fought for a while, and then he said, "Threeeee... twooooo... oooooooone... NOW!"

They all jumped off, Kirlia clearing a landing pad for them. They rolled to absorb impact with no harm, and ran straight for the building across the street. "Bulbasaur! Chikorita! Climb on my back!" They both jump up, and both of them were virtually weightless. Their job was to launch leaves at the onslaught of zombies. They made it inside, and Isaac said, "Chikorita! Look forward! Bulbasaur, look back!"

They ran up the stairs, higher and higher, and when they were at a suitable height, he turned into the offices that were adjacent to a shorter building.

_"You're not thinking of-"_

"Go!"

All the Pokémon ran for the window, Isaac in the lead. If he could run fast enough, he could bust through the window and make it to the other building. But he needed to run fast enough. "Bulbasaur! Chikorita! OFF!" They both hopped off, and he gained a noticeable boost of speed. One foot away from the window, he lunged forward with his shoulder in the lead, shattering the window, and he knew he would make it to the top of the other building. He didn't need to roll, and he kept running. "Kirlia! What's it like back there?"

_"They're still following us!"_

_Persistent. _They kept running, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until there was no more rooftops. "Jump down! Grab a pole to slow your descent!" He looked around, and there was only one pole. "Bulbasaur! Chikorita! Fend them off! You too, Kirlia!"

They were being hacked and slashed behind them. Kirlia pushed back as much of them as she could, but it was doing no good. They would have them before all of them could make it down. Isaac grabbed them all in one arm, and ran off, grabbing the pole, twisting down. He hit the ground hard, hurt his knees a bit, and kept running. They ran through the streets, zombies coming at them from every angle out of the surrounding buildings. "Make a clear path for us! Just in front of us!"

Isaac then spotted a car, visually unharmed. "Get to that car!" They made an abrupt turn, and somehow made it to the car. "Protect me for a bit!" The car had no roof, or it did, but it was retracted right now. He tried the ignition, and it sprang to life. "Jump in!" He put it in gear, and slammed on the gas. The car lurched forward, dropping Clefairy. "Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur reacted immediately, throwing out her vines and grasping the small Pokémon gently, but firmly. "Kirlia, search my memories, and figure out how to pull the roof out!"

_"Got it!"_

After a few antagonizing moments, Kirlia scrambled to the back seat. Zombies that appeared in the front of the car were mercilessly run over. "Is it working?"

_"No, the mechanism is jammed!"_

"Well, fix it! Search my mind again!" He was a decent enough mechanic.

After a noticeably shorter time than the last time, Kirlia's eyes glowed purple, and she searched the mechanisms in the entire hood expansion system. It was fixed right away, and she flipped the switch, and it operated. It slowly came over his head, and he wished it would go faster. When it did finally finish, he yelled, "Roll up the windows!"

They drove for a bit, the undead cracking the glass with every body that was flung into the windshield. "We need to jump out, soon! On my mark!" Isaac took a sharp left onto a bridge, flinging all the Pokémon into the right side windows. "Threeeee... twoooooo... oooooooone... NOW!" They flung the doors open, and jumped out right after. They all rolled to avoid any major damage. The car veered down the bridge, skidding without a person at the wheel, running into a wall, and flipped over. It rolled right onto a gas tank, a rather large one at that. It fell right onto a nozzel, knocked it off, and heated it, and Isaac knew what was about to happen. "RUUUUUUUNNN!"

They all turned and ran, hoping they would get away soon enough, but the problem was that there was a horde of undead rushing for them.

Isaac was between a rock and a hard place. He look for an escape, and said, "Back to the gas tank!"

_"Are you crazy?! We'll die!"_

"No we won't! Trust me!"

Though skeptical, they all ran towards the large gas tank. At the last possible moment, Isaac yelled, "Off the side! Jump!"

They all threw themselves off the side of the bridge, and fell towards the water. Midfall, the tank exploded, obliterating the horde that chased them so foolishly towards the other side of the bridge. The force of the explosion knocked Isaac out, and he fell towards the water.

* * *

Isaac started coughing. He knew what he needed, and the Pokémon around him knew they needed him. It was still night, and they still were fighting. There was a Kirlia beating on his chest.

_"... aac... Is... Isaac! Come on! We need you!"_

Isaac took a bit to regain his bearings. His whole body ached, and he didn't feel so clear minded right now.

"Alright, we need to get away. Is there a boat around here?"

_"Yeah, over there!"_

"Okay, lets get out of here!"

He got up and ran towards the boat. He pushed it out, Charmander and Clefairy helping him as best they could. "Jump in! Clefairy! Use metronome!"

Clefairy's eyes glowed, then his hands glowed, then his whole body glowed. It was going to be an earthquake. It shook the entire earth, causing enough pandemonium to knock over the zombies chasing them down. Clefiary wasn't old enough to do this to the fullest extent. After Clefairy did this, Bulbasaur picked him up, and they were off down the river.

* * *

It was quite a wide river, and their food supplies were getting low. They hadn't found a single city or town along this river for days. He could feel the helplessness. And the weakness.

"What if I can't find another person?"

All the Pokémon turned to him.

"I mean, what if there are no other people out there? I'll die alone." Isaac seemed distant and melancholy.

Chikorita inched closer, as she was the closest, and rubbed her face on his shin. He looked at her, smiled, and said, "Yeah, I have you guys, isn't that right?" They all yipped in agreement.

But Isaac couldn't help but to feel utterly alone in this world. What if he never found another person? He didn't want to think about that at the moment.

* * *

Their food had run out, and Isaac gave his to the Pokémon. They had abandoned the boat, and traveled on foot to find places better. They had been walking for a week, now.

They walked for hours and hours, through the night, on a feeling he had. He felt it no more, but they decided to keep walking through the day. They all wanted to see another human, but Isaac didn't have any strength left. He looked at the Pokémon, who were in front of him, and he couldn't go any further.

"Guys..." was all he could get out before he collapsed. All the Pokémon rushed to him to see what was wrong, but Kirlia made it to him first. "I am so... glad that I... could be... with you..."

Kirlia's eyes started to water. _"Are you...?"_

"Sadly... yes. I am... honoured... to have... traveled... with you. Keep going. Always... remember... me..."

The Pokémon couldn't hold back their tears, and openly wept for their human that was leaving them. They all cried loudly. Charmander couldn't bear it, and turned, but it didn't hide the reality of the situation.

_"Isaac... I... I love you! Please! Don't go!"_

That moment, Isaac knew. He didn't need another person to grow old with and die with. What he needed... was right there all along. He only needed a friend. And he had seven of them right there. He shed tears of happiness, knowing that he wasn't alone.

"I... love you all... too... Please! Just... survive without... me..."

Isaac exhaled his last breath.

* * *

Monica looked upon the body that lay there, her three Pokémon standing about. The body was thin, he probably died of starvation. Probably this morning, too. She felt a deep, looming sadness, which clutched at her whole body. She was so close to finding another person in this post-apocalyptic world. She looked around, searching for anything else. "Hello?" she called. Nothing... but there was something in those bushes over there. A light. She stepped towards it, and a Kirlia stepped out.

"Well, hello there!" said Monica, in the most friendly voice she could muster. "Are you alone?"

_"Well... now I am."_


End file.
